Swagger (or ‘estilo guay’ in Spanish) is a word that is used to describe the behaviour of someone who walks with confidence and is quite charismatic.
The origin of the word is contested. It is used by the mischievous fairy Puck in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1590’s), and it is well known that Shakespeare invented a lot of words that we still use today. Some sources argue that it pre-dates Shakespeare and may have some origins in old Norse.
In recent years ‘swagger’, and having ‘swag’, have been adopted by hip-hop culture to describe someone who is effortlessly ‘cool’ and/or influential.
For example –
- ‘The man just came swaggering into the bar and demanded a free drink! I couldn’t believe it.’
- ‘Mick Jagger might be getting older, but he still has a lot of that rock and roll swagger about him.’
- ‘You’re looking swag in your new trainers Dave.’
Written by Keith Kinsella, tutor at The Harrogate International Academy
